As Ob heaved, a high-pitched scream rang out. “Get off him! Leave him alone!” A slender form appeared out of nowhere, shoving past Nako.
Terig’s roar blasted in Nako’s ears. “Piper, no!”
Ob tried to check his throw, but the Kalquorian he’d grabbed was already hurtling through the air. He slammed into Piper, knocking her down. The back of her head bounced off the reinforced flooring, and her eyes rolled over white.
Ob’s thunderous roar obliterated the horrified cries of the crew. He knocked over several men in his lumbering rush towards Piper.
Nako and Terig only had to shove aside the unhurt man who’d crashed into her and kneel. Ulof was suddenly there as well. The scent of recent sex barely registered with Nako as he cradled Piper’s face between his hands.
A rush of relief swept over the captain as Piper opened her eyes. She blinked up at him in confusion. “Nako?”
“Don’t move.” He carefully lifted her head to feel the back of it. Swelling. No blood.
“Don’t—don’t hurt Ob—you bastards!”
“They were only training with him. Not attacking. He’s fine.”
The harsh odor of Tragoom fell over them. “I am unhurt, Piper. Only play, no fight.” A hint of desperation. “She hit hard. Captain, help her.”
“I will.” Nako lifted her in his arms. “I’m taking her to Medical.”
Piper stared at Ob. “Training! When I saw everyone attacking—”
Lopdod rubbed his back and grimaced. “We couldn’t dent that hide, Matara, even if we wanted to. Which we don’t.”
“Ob’s fine.” Nako tried to reassure both Piper and Ob. “She will be too. I’ll send word of what the doctor says as soon as I can.”
He swept out of the brig, racing down the corridor with Terig and Ulof right behind.
At least her eyes looked clear. She only seemed stunned. Still, Nako’s mind replayed how she’d hit the ground hard, how her head had bounced off the floor, and it hurt his stomach. His feet barely touched the floor as he sped to Medical.
* * * *
“No more than a slight concussion. Everything looks good. I do want you to remain here for a few hours for observation, however.” Dr. Zo’s reassuring smile eased Piper as he injected her with an inhibitor for the headache pounding through her skull. In an instant, the pain was a memory.
Nako, Terig and Ulof relaxed, standing just far enough away so they didn’t impede Zo as he performed his examination and treatment. The doctor, as tidy with his tightly braided hair as the medical department, had had no problem ordering them to move when they hovered too near. Even Nako had shuffled back with an apologetic look when Zo reprimanded him.
The doctor’s handsome face twisted with a scowl as he regarded Ulof, who had started coughing. “I’m more concerned about your health than hers, Imdiko. When did that cough begin?”
“I don’t know. Yesterday? My throat keeps tickling. My chest aches a touch, but it’s no big deal.”
Piper swallowed. Ulof had been coughing for longer than a day, and it was getting worse. Nako and Terig coughed occasionally as well. She gripped the edge of the exam table she sat on.
Zo, possessing all the natural command of a Dramok, pointed toward a large screen. “Step behind the scanner, Ulof.”
“I told you, it’s nothing.” His tone grew aggressive with irritation.
Zo only had to glance at Nako. The clan leader fixed his errant cook with a glare. “You heard him. Screen. Now.”
While Ulof stomped over to the device, which was tall enough to reach his chin, Nako relaxed. “It’s not only him, Doctor. Something’s going around, probably a bug we caught from Piras’s men. I’ve had the occasional cough myself. I think you have too, Terig?”
“Haven’t noticed.” The Nobek’s words were clipped. Apparently, he also cared little for medical examinations.
Nako confirmed Piper’s suspicions. “Sure you haven’t. You just don’t want Dr. Zo poking you.”
“Nobeks never do,” Zo grunted. He switched on the screen Ulof stood behind. Fascinated despite herself, Piper stared at the glistening organs revealed by the medical scanner.
Zo frowned. “Show interior of lungs. Enlarge. Switch to interior of heart. Interior of stomach. Interior of intestines.”
Organ by organ, he inspected Ulof’s insides, calling for cross-sections, tapping on the computer attached to the screen. After about five minutes, he stepped back. “I’m seeing some inflammation in the lungs. The stomach and intestines too. Are you suffering abdominal discomfort?”
“Nothing worth noting. The cough is the worst. Give me something for that, and I’ll be fine.”
“Maybe. The heart looks unaffected, at least. How are your urination and bowel movements?”
Ulof glanced at Piper, his features darkening with angry humiliation. He stormed out from behind the scanner. “By the ancestors, this is ridiculous.”
“I need a blood sample to analyze.”
A lump grew in Piper’s throat to see Nako’s and Terig’s worry as they manhandled the protesting Ulof to a medi-bed, where he was forced to lie down and his arm was stuck in a mechanical sleeve. She sucked on her lower lip, fear making her pulse loud in her ears.
Blood moved from a tube connected to the sampling cuff. Zo locked Ulof in to another machine next to the bed. Zo tapped on its keyboard as he issued orders. “Computer, analyze and identify any pathogens.”
Piper held her breath.
Seconds later, an electronic voice answered the doctor. “Virus detected. No perfect match to any on record, but multiple markers identified.”
“Markers for what?”
“The virus appears to be a mutation of K-U-Three-Z.”
The men froze. Zo, Nako, and Terig stared at Ulof. Ulof paled.
“K-U-Three-Z?” Piper asked, as if she’d not heard of it. Putting off the inevitable.
Zo’s unwilling answer came out slow, as if he could put it off too. “K-U-Three-Z is the virus that devastated our race. The illness that killed so many of our women and left most of the survivors infertile. It’s the reason we’re going extinct.”
“A mutated form—Ulof’s infected? Is it—it’s not lethal, is it?” Nako strained to push out the awful words.
Before Zo could admit he was at a loss—he couldn’t know, not when he hadn’t seen that strain before—Piper rushed to explain. “It’s not fatal. Ulof won’t die. I mean, it never killed any of the Kalquorians who got it from me. They got slightly sick, then they recovered and were okay. That’s why the Bi’isils deemed it a failure. It killed no one.”
Four sets of purple eyes turned in her direction. Four expressions of shock. Disbelief. Horror.
Zo was the first to recover speech. “You carry this virus? You’re infected?”
She couldn’t answer, not with them looking at her the way they were. She nodded.
“You brought it on my raider? And didn’t tell us? You infected my Imdiko with K-U-Three-Z?” Nako thundered. He shook with sudden, ungodly rage. There was no sign of the man who’d rushed her into Medical, assuring her she’d be okay.
“Nako. She didn’t mean to.” Terig’s expression was desperate as he addressed Piper. “Correct? You must have thought you were cured. Otherwise, you would have told us.”
Piper managed a strengthless whisper. “There is no cure, but it’s only a derivative of the virus that devastated Kalquor. I swear, it’s not lethal. It’s also not the same strain on board the death ship. What I have can’t kill you.”
Nako’s muscles seemed to expand, as if he inflated with the fury that made him monstrous. “You better pray it doesn’t. Woman, if I lose my Imdiko or anyone else because you hid this from me—”
He took a step toward her. Terig grabbed the collar of Nako’s uniform and jerked him so they faced each other. “Nako, stop. Now.”
“She made Ulof sick!”
For a wonder, Ulof defended Piper as well. “You heard her. I’ll be fine. She’s a victi
m too, remember?”
Silence stretched out between the three men. Piper bowed her head, weeping silently.
I destroy everything I touch. Nako was right. Even though they’d only get a tad ill, even though she’d hoped the symptoms would be too slight for them to take real notice, she’d been wrong to not tell them.
She should have explained it to them immediately, at least after warning them about the fatal virus that was en route. She’d feared they’d kill Ob, however.
But afterward, when they started becoming close, she should have said something. When she realized they were good men under those rough exteriors, she should have trusted them.
She’d wanted the safe haven they’d seemed to offer, though. That wonderful mix of care and the punishment she needed, that they’d supplied so readily. She’d stayed silent from selfish desire; out of fear they’d reject her.
I’m the same self-centered monster who left Walton to die.
She only needed to see Nako’s accusing glare to comprehend he felt the same. Despite their kindness, Terig and Ulof could not forgive her either. She deserved no pardon anyway.
Dr. Zo broke into the long silence. “I need to run tests on everyone she’s come into contact with. Her too, to verify she’s the source. Matara, I don’t suppose you know the contagion rate for exposure? Thirty percent? Fifty?”
Piper squeezed her eyes shut. Oh God, what have I done?
“More?”
“The same as the lethal version. One hundred percent.”
Nako screamed, startling Piper into opening her eyes. He glared at the ceiling as he shrieked a long animal cry of betrayal. Then he tore out of Medical in a blur, running as if he could escape her treachery, her deceitfulness that was more putrid than the virus that had plagued the Kalquorian Empire.
Piper slapped her hands to her face, hiding as she bellowed wrenching sobs.
Chapter 17
“One hundred percent infection rate from exposure.” Piras rasped more than usual as he echoed Nako’s report.
Huddled in his cubby on the bridge, Nako had established a vid com with Kila’s ship before it could fly out of range, phasing in hopes the spy raider had done so too. It had, which meant Maf couldn’t eavesdrop on the conversation. The Basma might become suspicious because Nako’s vessel had disappeared, but it was better to deal with mistrust than to learn about the shitstorm Piper had unleashed.
Nako coughed and relayed the rest of the information he had gleaned in the last two hours. “Those of us who have been in contact with Matara Piper—in the same room as her—are spreading the virus also. It’s extremely virulent, an airborne pathogen.”
“Mother of All, save us.” Piras’s jaw tightened as he ground his teeth.
“I sent messengers with a notice of quarantine to your men, telling them to stay apart from those who have been exposed. Everyone is being tested to check for infection.”
“I take it you haven’t informed Maf.”
“Hell no.” Nako ignored the admiral’s lifted brow at the disrespect. Piras could insist he was part of the fleet until he turned as blue as his uniform, but Nako only cared about saving the innocent. The fleet could go fuck itself, and so could Piras.
I don’t serve you or anyone else.
“I’m keeping Maf in the dark about this as long as possible. With his hatred for Earthers, there’s no telling what he’d do if he found out he could be infected.”
“Agreed. Only reveal it to him if you absolutely must. What about the Matara’s assertions that no Kalquorians have died from her particular strain? Is anyone on your ship in danger of dying?”
“Thus far, my Imdiko is the most ill. He’s not comfortable, but it’s no worse than him having the flu. The doctor on my raider is relieving the worst of his symptoms—but he cannot eradicate the virus. It’s up to Ulof’s body to fight off the effects.”
Piras sighed heavily. “I hope he will, Captain. Let the medical staffs aboard my vessels know if they can help in any way. Did Matara Piper suffer any of the effects when the Bi’isils infected her?”
“She said she did, but she didn’t become as sick as Ulof. Her body contains high concentrations of antibodies from when she was exposed.” Nako tamped down the swirl of emotions that rose every time he was forced to think of her. “Dr. Zo says he will try to concoct something from those antibodies to fight the virus if Ulof doesn’t improve, or if he worsens.”
“We’ll be out of com range soon, so you won’t be able to keep me informed. Hopefully, you’ll have good news to share when I return.”
“I hope so. Will this affect your mission?”
“Only in that I’ll advise Fleet Command of these additional circumstances once I establish contact. I’ll also have my medics run tests on my crew and see how far the virus has gotten among us. And I’ll keep us quarantined.” He coughed and grimaced. “Do your best to carry on. Honor and Empire.”
Nako shut down the connection without returning the pledge that was second nature to Kalquor’s military and fleet. He ordered the raider unphased and sat in his cubby.
Piras was okay as a person, for the most part. It was his attachment to the fleet that irked Nako, the fleet that had turned its back on the raiders. The fleet that had gone along with the massacre at Laro. In light of Piper’s betrayal, Kalquor’s disloyalty to men who’d given their lives to defend it loomed large once more.
As for Piper herself…
“Every damned time. Give trust and loyalty to someone, and they throw it in my face. Damn her!” he muttered fiercely.
He got up and paced the length of the bridge, ignoring the crewmembers who watched him warily. He fought the hurt that he’d been duped by a pretty female, by a delicious body, by a hurt soul.
Piper had known she’d infect him and his clan. His whole damned ship. Yet she’d not breathed a word of warning. Even if she was right that her version of the virus wasn’t lethal, she’d still betrayed his trust. It was too much to excuse.
His tryst with her was done, along with the fantasies of somehow finding a way to continue their relationship. Nako had to walk away from Piper as if they’d shared nothing of importance. From that moment on, he would refuse to speak with her beyond what necessity dictated.
Most of all, he would ignore how his heart clamored for him to forgive her, to grant her another chance.
* * * *
Terig laid his hand on Ulof’s shoulder and mentally cursed himself for doing so as the Imdiko’s glassy eyes fluttered open. He hid his irritation with himself to smile at his clanmate. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. How do you feel?”
Ulof coughed. “Great. Let’s go for a run.”
Terig snickered and squeezed the shoulder he hadn’t been able to keep from touching. Heat radiated from the bare skin under his palm. “Go back to sleep. I just came in to check on you.”
“Status report: I’m breathing. As a matter of fact, my chest doesn’t feel as heavy. Maybe I’m getting better.”
“Probably.” Perhaps he was fooling himself, but Terig thought perhaps Ulof was indeed breathing easier than before.
“Keep everyone out of my kitchen. Put some of your security in there, if you have to. It’s arranged exactly the way I want, and I will cut off the hands of any motherfucker who messes it up.”
Terig laughed quietly at that. “I’ll personally warn them myself.”
Ulof smiled, then glanced at Piper, who slept in the medi-bed next to his. “I can’t get her to talk to me. She’s not to blame, my Nobek. She didn’t think we would suffer from this.”
“I know.”
“You have to tell Nako. He can’t treat her like shit because she was too scared to warn us.”
Terig nodded, but he doubted his Dramok would relent in his sense of betrayal. Nako never forgave easily. He’d learned early to cut those who’d hurt him out of his life.
After Ulof drifted off to sleep again, Terig left his side to stand next to Piper. She looked sad, even while
lost to slumber. Poor woman, determined to go through life certain she was bad news to those who spared a moment of kindness for her.
“You’re at fault, but it’s not so bad you can’t be forgiven,” he whispered to the unaware Earther. “Especially since I share in the blame.”
He’d fucked up once more, increasing the potential for adding more fatalities to his name. Had Terig done his job, had he thought like the officer he was supposed to be, he’d have had Piper scanned for infectious diseases the moment he’d brought her on board. After all, she’d readily admitted to having been experimented on by the Bi’isils, on a station that carried out deadly research. How could he have not recognized the danger to his crew and clan?
Once again, Terig had shown extreme neglect and stupidity, putting others at risk. “If you are damned for your sins, then I am doubly so.”
* * * *
Piper woke to the gradually brightening lights of the room, signaling a new day shift had begun on board the raider. She turned her gaze to the sound of the soft wheeze of breath nearby.
Ulof blinked sleepily at her. “Good morning. How’s the head?”
She debated continuing her no-speaking policy. Why accept any kindness after what she’d done? But Ulof, with his sensitivity to rejection, didn’t deserve the silent treatment, so she relented. “I’m fine. You sound a little clearer. Your breathing isn’t so labored.”
“I feel like myself again. The fever is gone. My guts don’t hurt at all. And yes, it’s easier to breathe.”
“I’ve never seen the virus affect anyone so seriously. Prophets forgive me, I could have killed you with my stupid assumption it wasn’t fatal.”
“Not even close.” He waved off her concern. “I finally have a valid excuse for a break, and now that I’m over the worst, I’m playing it up.”
“It’s not funny, Ulof.”
“I’m serious. I was due some time off from feeding those ungrateful slobs. They damned sure better not be fucking up my kitchen while I’m out, though.”
His statement ended in a harsh cough. Piper’s eyes filled with tears, and she buried her face in her hands. “I wish I was dead. Everyone would be so much better off—”
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